Hon Bill English
National Party Education Spokesman

23 August 2006

New teachers: money could be better spent

Schools will be wondering how Labour is funding more teachers when it has told them that there is no more money for operations grants, says National Party Education spokesman, Bill English.

"Schools are struggling to keep up with rising costs of non-contact time for teachers, legitimate wage increases for teacher aides and information technology costs.

"This should be the end of the teacher increases because research shows that class size makes very little difference to overall student learning outcomes.

"This money would be better spent tackling disruptive behaviour and ensuring effective teaching practises in every classroom - this is where the biggest difference can be made.

"National supports small classes but more and more teachers should not be the main funding priority when the impact is questionable and when other areas are lacking," says Mr English.

ENDS

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